A former U.S. attorney general, Ramsey Clark, testified for the defense at a terrorism trial yesterday that three defendants, including a lawyer, played crucial roles in defending a blind Egyptian sheik convicted of terrorism.

Mr. Clark, who served as attorney general for three years in the 1960s under President Johnson, admitted doing some of the same things for which prosecutors have criticized attorney Lynne Stewart as they built their case against her over the last six months.

Ms. Stewart, 65, who represented Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman from 1994 to 2002, was charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists by passing messages from the sheik to his followers in Egypt. She also was accused of lying and of violating prison rules restricting the sheik’s access to the outside world.

Much of the government’s case against Ms. Stewart has focused on a 2000 press release she issued to an Egyptian journalist saying the sheik was questioning his support for a cease-fire by his militant followers.

Mr. Clark said he also spoke to journalists about the sheik, including in a 1997 interview in which he said the sheik supported the cease-fire.

He said he delivered a statement on the sheik’s behalf during a 1999 meeting in Cairo, Egypt.

“We worked on his statement,” Mr. Clark said. “His lawyers had a duty in representing him and helping to protect all his rights to remind the world of his existence so he wouldn’t be completely forgotten.”

Mr. Clark’s testimony was consistent with comments Ms. Stewart made as she testified for nine days, concluding yesterday.

As Ms. Stewart had said, Mr. Clark agreed that the lawyers worked to reach the sheik’s goal of being transferred to an Egyptian prison.

“While the accommodations might not seem as nice over there, it was familiar to him,” Mr. Clark said.

In America, he added, the sheik’s “isolation was about as total as it could get.”

Mr. Clark said he made numerous efforts each time he met with the sheik to make him laugh and lift his spirits so the lawyers could accomplish their work with him.

Mr. Clark also gave boosts to the defenses of Ahmed Abdel Sattar, a postal worker and former paralegal for the sheik, and Mohamed Yousry, an Arabic translator.

Mr. Clark said Mr. Sattar first introduced him to the sheik’s case and made the arrangements for the legal team’s trips to visit the sheik in prison.

He testified that Mr. Yousry was “as honest as anybody I’ve ever met.”

Mr. Sattar faces charges that he conspired to kidnap and kill people in a foreign country. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

Mr. Yousry, like Ms. Stewart, was accused of providing material support to terrorists. If convicted, both could face about 20 years in prison.

The sheik was convicted in 1995 of plotting to blow up New York landmarks, including the United Nations building.